10 Strange Buildings Where You Can Spend the Night

The Liberty Hotel was formerly the Charles Street Jail and housed some of Boston's most notorious prisoners including James 'Whitey' Bulger. Paul Marotta/Getty Images

Forget Shawshank! Anyone with an interest in prison, but lacking the stomach for the standard variety should visit Boston's historic district for a taste of both worlds. Formerly the Charles Street Jail, the Liberty Hotel is the luxurious result of $150 million worth of purchase, construction and renovation expenses [source: Liberty Hotel].

Located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, the hotel traded cell bars for private in-room bars, and it's a safe bet that the furnishings are about a hundred steps up from those the prisoners of yesteryear were given. Despite these improvements, the hotel is hardly designed to cover up its past. In fact, major efforts were taken to preserve the architectural and historic integrity of the building, which features original brick walls, prison bars and other mementos from its Big House past. Rooms and suites are available for between $250 and $1,500 per night.

Of course, a certain amount of irony had to be injected into the project, achieved by the name of the hotel itself (betcha some former prisoners wouldn't find that amusing), as well as the on-site restaurant, Clink and the former drunk-tank-turned-bar, Alibi [source: Lavoie].